MOCA Unveils Two Shows for Basel Miami Visitors

MIAMI—Attendees of Art Basel Miami may also want to make a visit to North Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Art and its brand new satellite, MOCA at Goldman Warehouse (in the Wynwood Arts and Entertainment District).

MOCA today is premiering London artist Isaac Julien's film True North, which follows the explorations of Matthew Henson, who traveled to the North Pole with Robert E. Peary in 1909. As an African American, Henson has remained unknown and in Peary’s shadow despite his status as the first person to reach the North Pole.

Julien’s allegorical mediation is the first in a trilogy of expedition histories. Projected on three large screens, the installation creates a sublime Arctic landscape. It will be shown in a specially constructed screening room in MOCA’s Main Gallery, along with a related photographic series.
 
In conjunction with True North, MOCA will present three live performances of Henson’s Journey on Friday, Dec. 2 at 10 am, 11 am and noon. In his first live performance since 1991, Isaac Julien directs Henson's Journey, a lyrical interpretation of Henson's experience performed by renowned dancer and choreographer Stephen Galloway (Ballet Frankfurt). This homage to Henson’s unrecognized quest will be set to the original sound score of True North by Paul Schutze titled “Plasma Falls," with a special appearance by Vanessa Myrie who retraces Henson's footsteps in the film.
 
Meanwhile, MOCA’s warehouse space will open with an interactive exhibition from Miami artist collaborative Friends With You. For their first work presented in a museum, Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval 111 have created a mesmerizing playground known as Cloud City. The large-scale installation will stay up through Jan. 29, 2006 and will feature a series of ritualistic performances.
 
Friends With You take their influence from world religions, science and popular visual culture then reclaim their diverse sources as their own. Sam Borkson explains, “We recognize these objects as universal symbols that belong to the world. It is part of a movement we have coined ‘neo-tribalism.’"